From The Courant Archives: March 31, 2006

From The Courant Archives: March 31, 2006 UConn Has The Will, But Not The Way

Duke was the UConn nemesis this time, winning in overtime in the regional final, in the Huskies' home state no less.

Last fall, UConn coach Geno Auriemma joked about sending Willnett Crockett to Boston for the Final Four ahead of the rest of the team, like a baseball manager sending a pitcher ahead in the postseason.

As it turned out, UConn needed her in Bridgeport Tuesday night. Crockett, who had scored two points in the regional semifinals against Georgia and none in a second-round game against Virginia Tech, broke out for a season-high 15 points against Duke in the regional final.

But it wasn't enough as the second-seeded Huskies (32-5) lost to the top-seeded Blue Devils (30-3) 63-61 in overtime.

Crockett has played well in big postseason games before, as when she
had nine points and 10 rebounds against Texas in the 2003 national
semifinals, but hadn't shown up much on the stat sheet this particular
postseason before Tuesday. She had eight points, four rebounds and two
blocks against Coppin State in the first round, and had four rebounds
and two steals against Virginia Tech, her ninth scoreless game of the
season.

Tuesday, she surprised Duke by scoring UConn's first seven points as the Huskies took a 9-3 lead.

``We tried to come out and change it up a little bit and be on the attack,'' Crockett said.

``Coach
wanted everybody to be offensive-minded and just do the little things.
We took it to them in the beginning, and we never let up.
Unfortunately, the ball didn't go in at the end.''

Crockett
shot 6-for-12 and had eight rebounds and a blocked shot in 33 minutes.
She also drew a difficult defensive assignment (actually, they were all
difficult Tuesday). She had to guard 6-7 sophomore Alison Bales, who is
5 inches taller.

Crockett's big effort came at the start
and at the end, bookending the game. With her team down by five with
2:41 left in overtime, Crockett took over again. Bales blocked her
layup with 2:17 left, but Crockett got the offensive rebound and hit a
jump shot 5 seconds later to pull the Huskies to 63-60. Bales fouled
her on the next possession and Crockett hit one of two free throws to
cut the deficit to two points with 45 seconds left.

But Charde Houston's shot, which would have tied the score with 2 seconds left, bounced in and out and the game was over.

``Will was really, really special tonight,'' said fellow senior Barbara
Turner, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds. ``We talked a lot before the
game as a group, as a senior class, about going out there and putting
our team in position to win the game because we knew it was going to
depend on us. We knew the situation we were in.

``She
played right from the opening tap. She played some inspired basketball.
She continued it throughout the game, and she left it all out there.
I'm proud of her for that. I'm proud of our group for the way we went
out and played.''

Crockett stood in the locker room after
the game, tears leaking out of her eyes as she talked about her
teammates. She took off her glasses and wiped her eyes when asked about
her emotions.

``I'm kind of torn,'' she said. ``You just
hope you can keep playing. You never want it to end. It's so much fun
being around these guys.''